Park Ridge mayor candidates square off on votes, taxes

With about three weeks to go before the April 9 mayoral election in Park Ridge, residents will choose between two candidates who each say the other's vision is wrong for the city.

Incumbent Mayor Dave Schmidt is being challenged by newcomer Larry Ryles, a 65-year-old military veteran. Ryles, who is making his first attempt at elected office, said he decided to run to unseat Schmidt, whom he described as a "bully."

Schmidt in turn has called Ryles a "fiction writer" and says he's running to keep Park Ridge moving forward.

Schmidt was first elected mayor in 2009, beating then-incumbent Howard Frimark with 57 percent of the vote. Schmidt has held positions in Park Ridge since 2006, both as a commissioner on the planning and zoning board and as 1st Ward alderman. A 53-year-old attorney, Schmidt said running as an incumbent is different from his previous campaign.

"I have a record to run on now," he said. "Luckily for me, my record is a heck of a lot better than the incumbent's was four years ago."

If re-elected, Schmidt said he'll keep the "progress we've made the last four years." He cited a more open style of government and a recent tax levy that was the lowest in a decade as signs of progress.

Ryles' assessment of Schmidt's record is vastly different, however.

"We have great downtown shops and a beautiful uptown development but we don't see it. We don't have an economic development committee or working on it," said Ryles, who served 24 years in the Army before being discharged as a command sergeant major in 1992. Since then, he worked in life insurance but retired in 2010.

Ryles has described Schmidt as a "bully" who frequently goes against the wishes of the City Council.

"Leadership requires character and competence," Ryles said, adding that he believed Schmidt was "a bully who has issued 43 vetoes in the last four years. This guy just has to be replaced."

Ryles said 19 of Schmidt's vetoes came when the council voted 6-1 or 5-1 in favor of the measure.

Schmidt said he doesn't take the popularity of something into consideration when making decisions. Instead, he said, he does what he believes is best for Park Ridge residents.

"My vetoes were sustained 22 times and overridden 21 times," Schmidt said. "I don't care what the vote is, if I think it's bad for the taxpayers, I'm going to veto it. And here's why: Maybe it gives the aldermen one more chance to think it over."

As for being called a bully, Schmidt says it goes with the territory.

"That's his shtick. He has no actual policies," Schmidt said. "It's ironic that he says I'm a bully but then spends all his time calling me names."

Ryles said his No. 1 issue, if elected, would be to keep the tax levy rate in line with the rate of inflation.

"School districts are held to the annual inflation rate. I've said all along that we shouldn't have a tax levy higher to an inflation rate," Ryles said.

Schmidt said if Ryles' plan is followed, revenue would have to come from somewhere else.

"Tell me what spending you're going to cut," Schmidt said. "The only way to do it is to increase revenues or cut spending."

The two do not agree on much, including this year's 2.15 percent tax levy — which was mistakenly described on Ryles' website as being 11.11 percent for a period. Ryles said he also doesn't agree with how Schmidt's administration has handled a "surplus" of money, saying the city has borrowed money — something the mayor denies.

"(Ryles) is a fiction writer, and he's good at it," Schmidt said. "But people see through it and are not buying it."